Urban Nature

Next, I traveled about seven miles south to multiple parks. At this first one, there were three big, circular pipes. Using my new neutral density filter, I set it to 6x (maximum darkness), and a higher aperture of f22, I was able to slow the shutter speed enough to capture a long-exposure during the day. I also wanted to highlight the graffiti inside the pipe. You can barely see it in this picture, but in the coming pictures, you will be able to see it more clearly. It was intriguing to see how these pipes had now turned into graffiti hotspots.

Resting

Following the pictures of the flowers in the tree bark, I moved the flowers to lay on this bridge. Like the bark picture, I kept the aperture at f2.8 to only have the focus on the flowers. I wanted to keep the walls of the bridge recognizable, but clearly out of focus.

Hanging

After seeing the flowers in the water, I wanted to experiment and place some flowers into some bark hanging off a tree. Originally, I tried taking pictures of the flowers standing straight up but found that it was simple and boring.  I then positioned myself underneath the flowers with an aperture of f2.8. This allows me to keep a sharp focus on the flowers and to have the rest of the tree and sky out of focus.

Urban Canal

As I kept biking, I found this canal with a little bit of water in it. Above the water was a bridge that was used as a connector from a house to the alley. Like the flower pictures, I wanted to capture this bridge with a reflection. Originally, I took the pictures with just the bridge and its reflection but soon realized that it looked plain. I then sat on the bridge to add another element but kept my head behind a pole to also make it seem a little mysterious.

Reflection

After taking a few pictures of the dandelion, I continued my bike ride. At the next puddle, I found this white flower. Using the new feature on the lens, specifically the 24-70mm zoom range and the f2.8 aperture, I was able to take this picture closer and in greater focus. I wanted to highlight the flower close, and in the center of the picture, while keeping the background well out of focus.

Floating

While I was biking in an alley, I found this dandelion floating in the water. At first, I was taking pictures from directly above. They weren't very interesting, and you could see me reflecting in the water. I then moved to a much lower vantage point, which is how I shot this picture. I positioned my camera inches above the water, hoping to capture the reflection of both the dandelion and the dirt/grass wall behind it. 

World Chaos

I like this picture mostly because it is a simple representation of our world right now, but also because it gives me a chance to talk about my new equipment! As I said earlier, I purchased a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. This will likely become my main lens as it has a large capacity for taking pictures. It will work well with landscape, long-exposure, and night photography. I also purchased a 1x to 6x neutral density filter. What this filter does is it either keeps the picture as the camera would see it (on 1x) or darkens the image (on 6x). It is a little hard to explain, but it will help me take long-exposure pictures during the day because it will allow me to have the shutter speed lower for longer shots.

Sunset Colors

With the threat of becoming sick to COVID-19, I found myself biking around the neighborhood. I found these flowers on the front lawn of a neighbors house. The flowers had bright colors such as oranges and reds. For most of these pictures, I switched my new wide-angle lens for the micro lens. I wanted to capture the flowers closer up and in sharper focus.

Night Time Lights

After I took this picture, I looked at it from the little LED screen on my camera. I noticed the lights above downtown and wanted to continue shooting them. I went down to the banks of the lake, where I found this branch sticking (pun intended) out of the water. I wanted to give the picture a green tint to make the picture look a little eerier and to highlight the downtown lights.

Dallas

Like the last White Rock Lake series, I took another picture of downtown Dallas. When I was taking this picture, I did not expect the lighting to turn out like this. With my eye, I could only see grey clouds, but the camera picked up some lights just above downtown. I believe that these lights do add to the picture because they make the background look better. Also, I wanted to include the trees and lake to add another element to the picture.

Docked

This image is one where you can see the difference between the old lens and the new one. With this lens, the dock is in crisp focus, while with the other lens, the focus wouldn't be as strong. Also, with the f2.8 aperture, this new lens allows for better night pictures. The wider aperture allows more light to enter the camera lens, thus brightening the image.

Watching

Like yesterday's picture, this is also a self-portrait. Recently, I bought the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8, a wide-angle lens. I bought it to replace the kit lens that came with the camera body. Even after taking the lens out once, I have noticed that it is much sharper in focus. Objects look much better, and there is a greater difference in the depth of field.

With the Flowers

There was a change in the plans regarding Colorado. Due to the COVID-19 virus, I ended up not going to Colorado. Yes, this was a major disappointment, but I am making do with places in Dallas. For instance, this first mini-series is back at White Rock Lake. I am only here for about a week's worth of posts then I am traveling to Ennis, Texas to take pictures of bluebonnets.

Rocking

This is my final picture from White Rock Lake. After this, I am going to take a short break until Monday. Starting on Monday, I will be posting pictures from Colorado!! It has been hot recently, but snow is in the forecast. I am greatly looking forward to pictures of mountains, obviously snow, and I am hoping to take some long exposure pictures as well.

Solitary

This is my favorite picture not only of this series but also one of my favorite recent pictures. I love how the light casts down directly on the man fishing. How the pier is on one side, and there is water on the other. One of the things that still confuses me is that if you look at the first picture I took of this man, the light was off. Now, it is on. I don't know if it was just the angle of the pictures or the light was off then turned on, but I still love this picture.

Distant Night

I then proceeded to walk onto the pier and photograph different objects from there. This first picture is of a light shining down on the walkway. I like the simplicity of that the objects create. It has a rectangular platform continuing to the back of the picture, cylinders on either side of the platform, and another cylinder with a light on it towards the back. Also, if you look closely, there are the sailboats again in the back right of the picture. I thought it was cool that they were in the picture, but didn't feel they were important enough to highlight.

Waiting

This next angle is lower and almost equal in height to the pier. I wanted to include the wood columns on top of the walking surface because I like the way that they look. On the right, the columns look new, but on the left, the columns are split and broken. I like the cylindrical shapes in this picture and how most objects have round edges.

Alone

I then continued my bike ride and found a pier with a guy fishing on it. I took the same general picture of this man fishing from multiple angles. The first was this wide-angle picture. I wanted to include the landscape around him, the water, pier, and land behind him. What I like the most in this picture is his flashlight reflecting on the water. The two lights are from his fishing, and the reflection leads your eyes right to him.

Blowing Reeds

After the last picture, I shifted about 50 feet to the right to capture this image. I wanted to focus on the Dallas skyline and how the lights can be seen from miles upon miles away. You can tell this picture is a long exposure because you can see the reeds blowing in the wind. This picture had an exposure of 10 seconds, ISO of 100, and an aperture of 3.6.

Dallas's Other Side

After taking pictures at the first spot, I started to bike around the lake. I wanted to find different angles around the lake that I have never seen before. After about two minutes, I found the perfect spot. It was complete with sailboats, reeds blowing in the wind, and the lights of downtown Dallas. 

Lost At Night

One color that I thought would pair well with this group of pictures is green. Green represents a weirdness and subtle darkness. I took these pictures from 7 to 9 at night. I want to highlight the weird/creepy mood of when I was taking these pictures with the color green. Due to this, in this and future pictures there will likely be a green tint. No, it's not your eyes seeing colors or a misclick when editing, it's intended.

Nature's Eyes

For this picture, I wanted to capture the sunset with a branch in the picture. I wanted to showcase the simpleness of a tree, but also the beauty it can show. I was too lazy to change my lens, so I ended up using my wide-angle lens, but I still like the aperture on the picture. I wanted to keep it sharp (closer to 0, I was at 3.6) to have the background fade and have the branch in sharp focus.